Moving to SF in March from Salt Lake city, company in Presidio SF and will be moving to Downtown SF in next 6 months. Planning to rent 1 bedroom 1 bath, budget between 2.5K-3.2K. I have a car also, some friends have suggested to sell the car and rely on public transportation. Which areas will be safe and worth looking into? I saw Bay view, Daly city and even Oakland has some cheap options. I have heard Oakland has safety issues, any comments on that? My primary goal is to find something which falls in my range, safe and commute time is not too long. Open to dispose car and use public transport, if that's the common consensus. Thanks!! YOE-3.5 TC-195K
Will you be living alone?
Yes, I am planning to stay alone.
Bayview to presidio is 40-60 min commute by car, way worse by bus. It's pretty block to block in terms of safety. Oakland isn't as block to block but it's big and has plenty of nice and scary options, so you're definitely going you want to explore yourself. Best bet is probably outer sunset, but then after the move that's going to be a long if doable commute. If you were going to work in the presidio long term there's apartments right there, but again that's not a great commute downtown.
Daly City isn't a bad option for the price. Car commute into the presidio is not bad, Bart to downtown is pretty quick. Daly City isn't the most interesting town but ymmv
Thanks for suggestions, the company claimed that they will move to their downtown office in June, but who knows. For the time being it will be Presidio.
Bayview is sketchier than Oakland. Look in the inner/outer sunset near N or L Muni stops so you can ditch the car. Avoid civic center/downtown. Daly City is cheap(er) and more car friendly, but extremely boring. Edit: Just saw the presidio bit, that’s gonna make commute difficult regardless. You might try inner/outer Richmond (district in SF, not the city in east bay) in that case.
Check out Marina cove apartments and North point. Not the best but that's what you get for 3k.. studio or Junior 1 bed
You need a roomate or 2x budget.
Planning to stay alone for the time being.
Then the later..
Richmond or Sunset would be a good commute to the Presidio and cheaper than Marina or Downtown.
Sunset or Richmond would be best.
Thanks everyone, you guys are very helpful.
Oakland is huge and varied so there’s no characterizing it wholesale. I live in one of the nicer parts, and I feel as safe walking around here as I do in SF (safer than tenderloin and probably bayview too). My rent is $1950 for a small but nice-enough 1bed. I wouldn’t love commuting to the presidio from here, though.
Thanks, I am making assumptions based on what I heard. I will definitely take a look before making a decision. Can you suggest few safer areas?
Any of the areas around Lake Merritt are generally well liked (Adams Point/Grand Lake are good, I’m less familiar with the other side). Jack London, Rockridge, and Temescal are also great with walkable areas and stuff to do. Things get really swanky up in the hills but you have to drive up and down and it’s quite far from transit.
1 bd in sf. All above 4k dude
What you recommend then, where should I be looking? I saw 3K apartment in daly city and Bayview area though.
You can easily get a 1 br for 3K and even below. Don't buy into the hype. Spend some time on Craigslist and manage your expectations. Look at neighborhoods like inner sunset or Richmond, cole Valley and upper Haight. Plenty of options in your budget